Pressure Forming Produces Parts That Are Visually Identical to Injection-Molded Parts at a Fraction of the Tool Cost.

What is pressure forming?

A natural extension of the Vacuum Forming Process where air pressure is used as a forming aid to increase overall part detail by transferring tooling detail directly to the mold surface of the part. Common pressure formed materials are ABS, Acrylic PVC, Polycarbonate and other thermoplastic materials.

Pressure forming is ideal when:

• You want to achieve sharp, crisp, formed in features such as logos, label recesses or molded in texture


• You want to mold in undercuts or have zero draft


• You have a deep part and want even material distribution


• You want the outside surface of the part to be highly cosmetic


• You want to have multiple textures or smooth areas on the same part


• Typical volumes are high hundreds to high thousands


• Tight tolerances and part-to-part repeatability are required as with multi-part assemblies such as medical carts, kiosks or industrial applications.


• Large parts such as equipment enclosures, bezels and housings require a highly–cosmetic appearance


• There are shorter lead times

Distinct advantages

• Low–cost aluminum tooling


• Sharp detail with mold-in louvers, label recesses, logos/changeable insert, undercuts/zero draft, texture and tight tolerances


• Less residual part stress